Nc’nean Distillery is a small, independent, and fully organic distillery on the west coast of Scotland. We exist to pioneer sustainable production whilst making light, fruity, and delicious whisky.
I founded Nc’nean Distillery with the planet in mind, and the plant was designed to produce whisky with one of the lowest carbon footprints possible, whilst protecting biodiversity, soil health, water systems, and aiding recyclability. Such practices are becoming more common across the whisky industry, and not just in the UK. But as a consumer, why should you care?
There are many reasons why consumers should be mindful of how their favorite whiskies are produced. Let’s break down why sustainability is coming to the forefront of conversations about whisky production, and why you should do all you can to ensure your whisky is sustainable.
First things first, why should you care about the sustainability of your whisky?
We all know that the health of the planet is in dire straits. Climate change is a direct result of us putting too much carbon dioxide and other gases into the earth’s atmosphere. But it is not just the fuel we put in our car, the gas we use to heat our homes, and the food on our plates that contributes.
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Every single thing we consume has a carbon impact, so we believe that it is incumbent on every business to constantly improve its impact on this earth in terms of carbon footprint, pollution, and biodiversity. In most instances, making one bottle of whisky is extremely carbon and water-intensive, so it is incredibly important that as an industry we try to reduce this.
If every whisky producer can reduce their water and carbon footprint, across however many millions of bottles of whisky are produced each year, this will have a huge impact on our efforts to help the environment.
So what is the carbon impact of whisky?
The only way to understand the carbon impact of whisky is to measure the carbon emissions in the first place.
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In 2021 we did our first carbon footprint report and we’ve done one every year since. This involved many hours of data gathering, calculations, and verification by an independent body to make sure what we were claiming was accurate.
Because I set Nc’nean up from day one to operate as sustainably as possible, our emissions are pretty low – in fact, they are verified as net zero for scopes 1 and 2. Our distillery is powered by a biomass boiler, with the timber used to power the boiler growing just two miles away. But we are not resting on our laurels and every year we are making further improvements to reduce our emissions – be that insulating our stills or trialling bio-diesel in our tractors.
How does Nc’nean’s footprint compare to other distilleries?
Our production emissions are a whopping ten times lower than those of a fossil fuel equivalent distillery of the same size. Here’s a little chart from our latest sustainability and impact report:
But what about all the other emissions associated with packaging and farming etc?
These are called scope 3 emissions, and though they are more difficult to keep low because they are out of our control, we work hard to try to measure and then reduce these. We try to keep our suppliers as close to the distillery as possible, choosing for example to have our gift tubes made in England rather than China. We make difficult business choices, including not selling mini bottles of our whisky because we can’t source sustainable glass for them (yet…!).
We also think it’s really important to be transparent with our consumers, and with the industry about what we’re doing, and also what we’re not yet doing. This is why we publish our impact report annually. You can always read our latest report on our website.
It is not all about carbon… what else is important when considering the sustainability of your whisky?
There are so many things to take into account with sustainability in whisky, it is a complex picture. For Nc’nean specifically, we focus on a few things which help us to produce a spirit that has a low impact on the environment.
Firstly, we only use organic Scottish barley to create our whisky. It’s super important to us that we protect the biodiversity and soil health on the farms where we source our barley from, and organic farming avoids the use of artificial fertilisers and chemicals. Encouraging biodiversity is also why we choose to keep bees at the distillery (and the honey makes a fantastic Hot Toddy!).
Secondly, every element of our packaging is considered very carefully. We maximise the use of recycled materials including our 100% recycled glass bottle, we make sure all the elements are recyclable or reusable (our bottles are very popular as vases and olive oil pourers) and we even offer bottle refills if you visit the distillery in person.
Thirdly, water. Now, I hear you say, water? In Scotland? Surely that is not a problem? But, as the climate changes we are finding that we are experiencing periods of drought more and more often. And so instead of drawing our cooling water (which is 90% of a distillery’s needs) straight from a river, we dug a big cooling pond. Highly unusual for a Scotch distillery, but a completely natural solution. Warm water in one end, cool water out at the other.
And lastly, the unglamorous business of waste. Distilleries produce leftover barley (draff) and liquid in the stills after distillation and for these, we’ve gone for a traditional farm solution – the local cows eat our draff and the liquid is spread on the fields.
So where does that leave us?
If we haven’t bamboozled you too much with the complexity of sustainability in the whisky industry, our parting message would be this: your choices really matter. Seek out brands that you feel are doing the right thing for the future of the planet – below are three things to look for;
- The B Corp logo: This isn’t a foolproof measure, as B Corp can also reflect the ethical nature of a business, but it is a pretty good starting point that a business is acting as a force for good, and is putting the people and our planet in line with profit.
- Whether they are measuring their carbon impact: If a company has even thought about measuring their carbon emissions, you hope that they are on some kind of right track towards reducing them.
- Recyclability and recycled content (note the big difference between these) of their packaging: Both are important, so look for a high percentage of recycled materials and make sure the packaging is further recyclable on your side so it is not going into landfill.
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